


Lack of Observation

by CommonNonsense



Series: Tumblr-Inspired Ficlets [9]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-26 14:56:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3854908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommonNonsense/pseuds/CommonNonsense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John and Sherlock get together, and the only reason Sherlock agrees not to tell everyone they know is because he EXPECTS them to notice. They don't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lack of Observation

**Author's Note:**

> http://practicefortheheart.tumblr.com/post/89055883644/if-johnlock-becomes-canon-i-think-sherlock-would

Sherlock was agitated.

This morning, after Lestrade came to them with a particularly complex string of robberies, John had gently caught Sherlock by the arm before he could whirl out of the flat in excitement. “Sherlock,” he had said. “Can we—um. Can we keep this quiet for now?” When Sherlock had frowned in confusion, John clarified, “Us. This whole thing.” He gestured between the two of them. “It’s not that I want to keep it secret! I just don’t want to, you know, spring it on everyone right away when it’s still so new.”

“Yes, yes, fine,” Sherlock had dismissed with a flap of his hand, only becoming interested again when John seized him for a quick but thorough pre-case kiss.

That wasn’t why he was agitated, though. In fact, he had been perfectly fine with John’s request before they left the flat because he had been absolutely certain that everyone else would notice that they were together.

And nobody had.

Lestrade had greeted them perfunctorily at the Yard before launching into a full explanation of the case. Donovan had barely acknowledged their presence. Molly had quietly but happily assisted them with the autopsy report, casting her usual longing glance at Sherlock when she thought Sherlock wasn’t looking. Various techs and officers and others came in and out over the course of the day and not a single one commented on Sherlock’s and John’s obvious new relationship.

The agitation worked its way up to genuine frustration, then borderline anger as the day progressed. After Lestrade came into his office and left again without a comment on the obvious for the fourth time, Sherlock threw down a stack of files, making John jump.

“Jesus, Sherlock, what–”

“Everyone here is blind!” Sherlock fumed, scrubbing his hands through his hair. “It’s no wonder they need my help, they can’t even see what’s right in front of them!”

“What?” John leaned forward to look at the case files, scattered on the desk. “Did you find something?”

“Not the case, John. Almost everyone in this building is meant to be solving murders and yet they can’t even tell when we’re dating!”

John was quiet for a moment as the outburst sank in. Sherlock focused on the little endearing crumple between John’s eyebrows as the man thought.

“So you’ve been in a strop all day because nobody’s noticed that we’re together,” he eventually said.

Sherlock groaned. “It’s obvious!” he said, spinning on his heel to look directly at John.

John looked like he was trying to hold back a smile. “Most people can’t tell just by looking at two people if they’re a couple, mate.”

“But it’s so obvious!” Sherlock repeated with a frustrated gesture. “It’s all over you! The state of your hair—obviously someone’s been running their hands through it, it’s been poorly fixed back into place. Lips more chapped, slightly more color, and you keep licking them: you’ve clearly been snogging someone recently, and given there is only one person around you constantly, that narrows the options quite a bit. The crease in your shoes means it’s someone taller, then there’s your collar, the way you keep touching me and moving into my space even though clearly don’t realize you’re doing it–”

Sherlock stopped mid-rant when he realized John had turned his head away. “What?”

“Nothing.” John’s shoulders shook with what Sherlock realized was barely-restrained giggling. When John looked back again, he was grinning and his cheeks were pink. “Nothing. It’s just—you really are the only one who would notice those things, you know.”

Sherlock was at a loss, induced almost entirely by the adorable flush on John’s face.

“Well,” he eventually pouted, “they should notice.”

John burst out laughing. “God, you really want them to know, don’t you,” he said, with just a trace of awe to his tone. Before Sherlock could reply, John dragged him down with a hand on the back of his neck and kissed him.

Regardless of the Yard’s collective inability to notice rumpled collars and mussed hair, it was incredibly difficult to miss two men kissing in the middle of one’s office. In this way, Lestrade figured it out, and it ended up spreading through the Yard. Sherlock took great pleasure in lecturing passers-by on all the signs they had missed and overusing the phrase “my partner, John.”

John mostly smiled and blushed and looked for closets to hide in.


End file.
